Mitre, Yanks Embarrass White Sox

(AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
CWS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	1	3
NYY	0	4	0	4	0	1	0	1	X		10	14	0

WP - Sergio Mitre (3-1)
LP - Jose Contreras (5-13)

The story of today's game was the pitching, and specifically the outstanding performance by Sergio Mitre. In 6.1 innings pitch the sinker-baller held the White Sox scoreless on just one hit an a walk, and struck out two. He was perfect through the first four and a third, but Jim Thome broke up the perfect game with a liner past Mark Teixeira at first. A play earlier Alex Rodriguez saved the perfecto with a fantastic diving play at third, Teixeira just missed making another spectacular play. And who knows what would have happened if he did because that was the last hit the White Sox would get all day.

Mitre caught a bad break in the top of the 7th when A.J. Pierzynski lined a ball off his right forearm. His arm quickly swelled up and he had to leave the game. Luckily X-rays came back negative and he could make his next start. Either way it was by far his best game as a Yankee. I doubt we'll see many more one-hitters from him, but he's improved each time out so maybe he's starting to figure things out.

Chad Gaudin replaced Mitre and picked up right where he left off, throwing 2.2 no-hit innings to close out the one-hitter that White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen later called "embarrassing." Gaudin struck out four and walked one.

On the offensive side the Yankees had their best game since their 20 run outburst in Fenway last week, pounding White Sox pitching for 10 runs and 14 hits. They scored four in the second and another four two innings laster to build up an 8-0 lead after four.

Derek Jeter picked up three more hits to move to within 13 hits of Lou Gehrig on the Yankees all-time hits list. He also laid down a sac-bunt with runners on first and second and nobody out in the Yanks four-run second. I was not bothered by the bunt at all, but Michael Kay in the booth seemed a bit peturbed. Kay's point was that Jeter is so hot that he had to swing away, which is a perfectly valid argument, but I think Jeter did the right thing. Here's what the captain had to say:

“It was the right thing to do. We had a couple guys on base. With nobody out, you move them over and you have a lot of different ways to score a run with guys on second and third as opposed to first and second. I’ve done it before and I’m sure I’ll do it again,” Jeter said. “I don’t care who knocks ‘em in. I’m just trying to win games. At that point, it was, what, 2-0. We’re trying to get some runs for Serg.”

I agree with Jeet. What people forget sometimes is that no matter how well these guys are playing they're going to fail more than they succeed. Jeter's bunt set up Johnny Damon's two-run single and led to a big inning. If he hits a rocket at one of the infielders and they turn two who knows how the inning plays out.

Robinson Cano followed up his 10th inning walk-off homer yesterday with a three-hit game today. Alex Rodriguez picked up two hits, including his 23rd homer of the year, a solo shot of Sox reliever Tony Pena in the 8th.

A-Rod, Johnny Damon, Cano, and Jerry Hairston Jr. had two RBI each. And five Yankees had multi-hit games. Overall it was a great day for the Yanks in the Bronx.

The Yankees are now a season-high 33 games over .500, but Boston won again tonight so the Yanks lead remains at 6 games. But another day has been knocked off the schedule so that's a good thing. The Yanks go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon with Joba Chamberlain on the mound. It's a pretty big start for Joba who looks to put his recent struggles behind him. Freddy Garcia will get the ball for the White Sox.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	4	1	3	0	0	0	0	.333
Gaudin, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.036
Damon, LF	4	1	1	2	1	0	2	.289
Teixeira, 1B	4	1	0	0	1	2	6	.283
Cabrera, Me, CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.268
Rodriguez, A, 3B	5	2	2	2	0	1	4	.269
Matsui, H, DH	4	1	2	1	0	0	2	.271
a-Hinske, PH-DH-RF	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.255
Swisher, RF-1B	5	1	2	1	0	1	2	.243
Cano, 2B	5	1	3	2	0	0	1	.315
Hairston, J, CF-RF-SS	3	1	1	2	1	0	3	.261
Molina, J, C	3	1	0	0	1	0	2	.232
Totals	38	10	14	10	4	5	22
a-Struck out for Matsui, H in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Cano (37, Contreras), Hairston, J (21, Contreras), Damon (30, Contreras), Matsui, H (21, Contreras). HR: Rodriguez, A (23, 8th inning off Pena, To, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Jeter 3; Damon 2; Rodriguez, A 5; Matsui, H 3; Swisher 2; Cano 4; Hairston, J 2. RBI: Hairston, J 2 (36), Damon 2 (71), Rodriguez, A 2 (70), Matsui, H (72), Swisher (68), Cano 2 (70). 2-out RBI: Cano. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Matsui, H; Rodriguez, A; Molina, J; Hairston, J. S: Jeter. GIDP: Damon. Team RISP: 6-for-17. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Jeter (23, 2nd base off Contreras/Pierzynski).

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mitre (W, 3-1)	6.1	1	0	0	1	2	0	5.65
Gaudin	2.2	0	0	0	1	4	0	4.90

Pitches-strikes: Mitre 73-48, Gaudin 36-24.

WHITE SOX STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Sergio Mitre (W, 6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K)

HONORABLE MENTION: Robinson Cano (3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI)

Tomorrow's Game

Yankees vs. White Sox

Game Time: 1:05 p.m. TV/Radio: YES, TBS WCBS
RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-4, 4.34) vs. RHP Freddy Garcia (0-1, 6.75)